6-10 June 1994
Leiden, The Netherlands

PERFORMING ARTS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

By Wim van Zanten

This workshop was organized by Prof. Kees van Dijk of the Royal
Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology (KITLV), Dr. Clara
Brakel, and myself from the Research School CNWS. There were
about 25 participants, and 16 papers were discussed. Before the
sessions the papers had already been distributed to the
discussants who introduced them. This was followed by a reaction
from the author of the paper, who often illustrated his or her
paper with audio-visual material. General discussion could
usually begin after 15-20 minutes. This format adopted by the
KITLV workshops is both very satisfying and extremely stimulating
for the participants. In the late afternoon several participants
demonstrated their audio-visual material on performing arts. I
Wayan Dibia gave a live demonstration of the use of some Balinese
masks.
The papers centred on three themes: singing and recitation (4
papers); the female performer and her art (3 papers); and the
effect of social change and cultural policy on the performing
arts (5 papers). Of the four remaining papers, three were about
theatre, while the topic `animals in the performing arts', which
was initially suggested by the organizers, was only represented
by one paper. All papers concentrated mainly on Indonesia, with
the exception of one on Malaysia. The organizers had tried to get
more participants from this area, as well as from Indonesia.
However, at the last moment, two Indonesian participants were
unable to come.
The publication of the papers as a volume of the KITLV Workshop
series was discussed during the business meeting. Most
participants were willing to review their papers. This
publication will be edited by Clara Brakel and Wim van Zanten.
The proposal for a Journal on the Performing Arts of Asia
(including North Africa) by the publisher Brill was discussed
with a representative of Brill. On the whole, the participants
were enthusiastic about such a journal, especially if it were to
include a yearly audio-visual publication containing examples
mentioned in the articles. The proposed price of Dfl 190,- for
three 112-page issues per year, was considered too high, perhaps
even prohibitive, for many smaller libraries.